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He nods. “And right now, my duty is to cement an alliance for my father.” He glances at me. “It’s all very complicated.”
“I’m sure it is,” I murmur, trying to imagine what he’s going through. “Do you want this? To get engaged, I mean.”
“If anyone else asked me that question, I’d say that I want to do anything for my family, including this. But since you’re my girlfriend…” He hesitates a moment, and his mask slips. Something deeply flawed, deeply pained shows through his eyes. “No, Dara, I don’t want to get engaged to this girl, much less marry her.” He raises his new drink, smiling bitterly. “But I do what I must.”
“I’m sorry. I honestly can’t imagine that.” I hesitate, take a long drink, and clear my throat. “Actually, I sort of can. But in reverse? My boyfriend, a guy I thought was going to propose, dumped me this morning.”
“That’s rough. I’d never dump you before five in the evening, at least. That’s just common courtesy. Wait until after work.”
“Right? But it gets worse. He dumped me, while holding my roommate’s hand and explaining that he’d been cheating on me with her for the last three months. Her name’s Christine, by the way, and I hate her. Also, they’re moving to Mexico, getting married, having babies, and oh, yeah, he stole all my money.”
Finn’s eyes widen and he whistles. “You have to be kidding? He stole all your money? How’d he manage that?”
I groan, putting my face in my hands. “A month ago, he said we should start merging our accounts. You know, since we were going to take the next step in our relationship? Stupidly, I believed him, and gave him access to all my banking information.”
“Oh, shit,” Finn says, putting a hand on my leg. “Don’t blame yourself. The guy sounds like a full-on grifter scumbag.”
I lick my lips, looking at him. I like the weight of his hand on my leg. It’s suggestive, a little wrong, but it feels good. I scoot closer to him without thinking. “Hard not to blame myself. I mean, they’d been screwing around forthree monthsand I never noticed.”
“If I ever meet this piece-of-shit ex of yours, I’ll hurt him for you. As your new boyfriend, it’s my duty to defend your honor.”
“While that’s extremely possessive, I accept.”
“What can I say? I’m protective of what’s mine.”
“And I’m yours?” My eyebrows arch.
His fingers dig in tighter. “Right now, you are.”
I lick my lips again, unable to help myself. My heart’s racing wildly. What the hell is going on right now? Are we flirting? Am I really flirting with a guy that’s getting engaged tomorrow when I was just dumped this morning?
I should finish my drink and get out of here. I need to head back to my apartment and take stock of the damage. I have a feeling Lucas stole more than my money.
But I can’t bring myself to leave. Not with Finn sitting so close.
“I probably should call the police,” I say, shaking my head. “That’s what a normal, rational person would do, right? But I bet he’s already halfway to Mexico.”
“Cops won’t do shit,” Finn says. His knee presses against mine and he gestures the bartender to get me another drink. “You might be able to see if your bank will cover you. Call it theft or something, but it’ll be tough to prove.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do.” I accept the second drink, sipping it slowly, feeling pleasantly tipsy. “I feel like my life’s ending.”
“I know what you mean. I feel like I’m walking to my own funeral tomorrow.”
“Getting engaged to this girl is that bad?”
He tilts his head to the side. “Imagine being told you have to spend your entire life with a stranger. Even if she ends up being okay, imagine having no control over your own choices. Try to picture how that might feel.”
I try and definitely don’t like it. “Fair point. But what kind of family do you have, if this is something you need to do?”
“A complicated one.” He doesn’t seem forthcoming so I don’t push him on the non-answer. “Truth is, what I want has always been secondary to what the family wants. Most of the time that’s okay. That’s how things work. But in this instance, I wish I had more of a say in my own life.” He grunts, smiling slight to himself. “I never talk about my life like this, you know. I must be very fucking low if I’m spilling my guts to a stranger.”
“Girlfriend,” I remind him. “I’m sorry. I really am. If it helps, I feel like my life’s ending too. I mean, I’m pretty sure Johnnie’s going to fire me tomorrow, and I really can’t afford to lose this job right now.”
Finn grunts, throws back his drink, and puts the glass down. He shifts to face me, takes one of my hands in both of his, and stares me in the eye.
I sit there, staring back. Not sure what to say, heart racing, mouth watering. God, this man really is handsome. Gorgeous, actually, absurdly so. Perfect eyes, perfect lips. A growling voice, strong arms and hands. Whoever he’s going to marry, she’s a lucky woman.
Normally, he wouldn’t be my type. A guy like this is nice to look at, but probably more trouble than he’s worth.
